Carbon Server Distributed Enterprise Transcoding

Multiple Carbon Coder nodes can be configured as a rendering farm, controlled by one or more Carbon Servers. Distributed enterprise transcoding with Carbon Server provides maximum flexibility, future-proofing and cross-vendor interoperability. Carbon Server allows for automated processing of high-volume transcoding tasks, as well as pre-emptive special case jobs, managing job distribution, job prioritization, load balancing, FTP transfer, status monitoring, and job notification.

All interaction with the server software is through an administrative Web interface that can be accessed from remote machines. Carbon Server can be run via its user interface or via an XML-based API that is included with the product. The same API controls both Carbon Coder and Carbon Server..

Scalable Operation

Carbon Server is designed to scale from a single user to an entire enterprise. Users can start with a single Carbon Coder node running under the control of Carbon Server, and then add more nodes as the transcoding load increases. The server software automatically recognizes new Carbon Coder nodes and adds them to the transcoding operation. If a node fails, transcoding is automatically routed to other nodes.

Web-based Interaction

All control of the Carbon Server application is through an administrative Web interface that can be securely accessed from any machine on the network. This interface allows for the configuration of network watch folders, transcoding profiles, FTP transfers, etc. The “farm” can be fully automated, with specified priorities for jobs coming from certain network locations. Users can also submit jobs on an as-needed basis.

FTP Transfer Control

The “farm” managed by the Carbon Server application can access shared storage on the network or remote storage via FTP. As an example, Carbon Server can be set to watch an FTP location on a catch server, then automatically transcode arriving material into an editing format. The transcoded video can then be automatically transferred to an editing station.

XML-based Interface

Carbon Server can be controlled directly via an XML-based SDK provided with the software. Every aspect of the transcoding process can be controlled by the SDK, including source/target destinations, transcoding parameters, filtering, compositing, ad insertion, titling, notifications, etc. The same SDK controls both Carbon Coder and Carbon Server, so your work will scale from a single machine to an entire farm.

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Supported Formats

Video Codecs

  • MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4
  • H.263, H.264, VC-1, Flash
  • DV25, DV50, DVCPro
  • DPS, DivX, JPEG 2000
  • Image Sequences
  • Windows Media, RealVideo

Media Containers

  • HDV
  • MXF (including D-10/IMX)
  • MPEG-2 PS, MPEG-2 TS
  • GXF, LXF, QuickTime
  • WMV, ASF, AVI, VOB
  • 3GPP, 3G2
  • WMA, WAV, Broadcast WAV

Audio Codecs

  • PCM, MP3, DTS
  • AAC, AMC, AMR-NB
  • WM Audio, RealAudio

Systems

  • Leitch VR, Nexio
  • Grass Valley Profile, K2
  • Omneon Spectrum
  • Quantel sQ
  • Avid Editing Systems
  • Apple Final Cut Pro
  • Adobe Premiere Pro
  • Grass Valley Edius